Saving Miss Daisy

There are many important members of our farm’s team, but a special one has been having a guard donkey. This began with Belle in 2006, who was later joined by a gentled wild burro Daisy. Belle passed several years ago at the ripe age of 39, and Daisy has been championing the cause of ensuring that the predators of the forest know that lamb is not on the dinner menu.

She and Blue, Kara’s horse, enjoy pasture spaces on the perimeter of the grazing areas, keeping watch and making plenty of noise when anything undesirable is spotted, and it’s a creative and collaborative way to maintain balance with the wolves, foxes, coyotes, and bears of the Northwoods.

With the long, wet weather this year and oddly warm temperatures well after Christmas, we knew that when winter turned, we would need to be on the lookout for any health challenges with the livestock. Watching the sheep for signs of pneumonia was top of the list, but the surprise came from dear Daisy, who is now 13 years old.

At first, she wasn’t interested in eating, which is not a good sign in any domestic animal. She struggled with a low temperature and became droopy, which became time to reach out to our local large animal veterinarian. Daisy was having a serious case of colic.

Colic is one of those terms that can be a variety of ailments in the gut of equine, and all of them can be life threatening. For donkeys in particular, they are so stoic in nature that they often don’t exhibit any symptoms until conditions are quite serious. In some cases, surgery is necessary if there is an obstruction or twisted gut, but the nearest surgery option was 3 hours drive away, in the frigid winter, and the stress of loading and the travel away from home and all things familiar might be enough to tip Daisy over.

It was possible, however, that the condition was gassy colic, which can be caused by extreme changes in the weather for donkeys. We gave her medications to help with the pain to see if she could relax, and encouraged her to walk round and round her ample corral in the barn to help keep things moving on the inside, but her condition was worsening. The vet offered that a dose of sedation might be the only way to help Daisy unclench her abdominal muscles and allow the gas to pass. He came and gave her a shot in her neck, described what should happen, and said that if things got worse instead of better, we might need to put Daisy down in the morning.

Kara was out in the barn with Daisy most all of the night, and as the sedatives kicked in and her legs grew weak and wobbly, Daisy pressed her head against Kara’s legs and just stood there for a long time, seeking reassurance and stability. What felt like an eternity later, her sides rippled, and in the morning she was finally able to poop and give a great big fart. Never have we ever been so happy for a fart!

But we were not out of the woods yet. Daisy’s condition remained tenuous, with more pain medications needed, along with a long walk. When a donkey doesn’t feel like doing something, she simply doesn’t. She gets what Kara calls “concrete feet” and simply refuses to move. This was the strategy when faced with the prescription for walking, which she resisted heartily because she still felt horrible.

Blue, the horse companion, is much larger than Daisy and a bit pushy, so when she gets too close to Daisy, the donkey moves out of the way. Kara was able to train Blue to use this tactic to get Daisy to keep walking. Despite the horse’s standoffish nature towards her pen-mate, she had grown quite concerned about Daisy’s condition and seemed to know that this walking process was going to be essential. One of us would hold the lead on Daisy, and Kara would be with Blue on the lead from behind, and if Daisy wanted to stop, Blue would bop her in the butt with her nose to keep her moving.

At the end of that long walk around the rim of the pasture, Daisy was finally able to have a good, long poop. Things were moving in the right direction.

Recovery from colic is not an instant “all better now” process. The pain continued from the intense swelling of her intestines from the gas and dehydrated poop that had been trapped inside. Her feet plagued her from that long walk on the frozen ground, so we went from saving her on one issue to having to triage the next one, with an emergency visit from the farrier to check her feet and offer advice.

Daisy continued to have no interest in eating or drinking water, and Kara was on chat not only with the vet, but her donkey rescue and even local alpaca friends from all over the country. From tips for helpful nutrition she might be tempted to eat to different ways to prevent colic in the future, it was truly a hive mind project to keep Daisy going in the cold with her lingering ailments.

She still isn’t back to her normal self yet, but we’re going in the right direction. It’s a testament to how fragile life truly can be, even for the most rugged individuals. It’s also a testament to the care and sleepless attention of everyone involved in the process of saving miss Daisy. Hang in there darling, we are all rooting for you!

Stay observant with the animals in your care, catch signs early, and we’ll see you down on the farm sometime.